Rear-door latch for automobiles



1941- G. E. DAVELAAR REARDOOR LATCH FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Oct. 21, 1940 Snventor e E 1/8 /aar i ptorneg Patented Nov. 4, 1941 George E. Davelaar, Tacoma, Wash. Application October 21 1940, Serial No. 362,055

1 Claim.

. This invention relates to devices for preventing the opening of the rear door of an automobile so long as the front door thereof is closed, and has for its objects to provide such a mechanism which is of extreme simplicity; which will not readily get out of order; which will automatically lock the rear door when the front door is closed and will release the locking latch when the front door is open; which will permit the rear door to be closed after the front door has been closed and will automatically lock it when so closed; which is applicable to doors which swing in the same or in opposite directions; andwhich is positive in its action at all times.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, and arrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which I Fig. 1 is a section at the door post, showing my improved latch released from locking the rear door; Fig. 2 is-a similar view showing the front front door 2.

is chamfered to enter the dent 9 in the front.

the bolt In to impel the bolt l towards the The front end l3 of the bolt in door 2. When the front door 2 is open (Fig. 1) the bolt l0 extends out from the post 6 and, as

the front door 2 closes, the end l3 of the bolt door closed and the rear door locked; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the front door closed and the rear door being closed; Fig. 4 is a section showing a modified form of my invention adapted for use when the two doors swing in the same direction; and Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of an automobile body showing th location of my improved rear-door latch.

Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

I am aware that several appliances of this general character have been devised but they all are either too expensive on account of their complexity, or are too easily put out of order, to meet the practical requirements of everyday use. It is my main purpose to produce such a latch mechanism as will be simple, cheap and foolproof.

Referring to the drawing, the body of the automobile is provided with a front door 2, hinged at 3, and a rear door 4, hinged at 5. The two doors 2 and 4 are separated by a door-post 6 when the doors are swung towards each other as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5. The form of my invention shown in Fig. 4 will be described later.

The front door 2 is provided with a slot having an inclined base surface 1, inset into its inner edge 8 adjacent to the postv 6, and with a dent 9 which is adapted to receive the front end of the latch bolt. No other change is made in the front door. a

l (Fig. 3), and when the rear door 4 is being opened or closed. A fiat spring closure plate I1 is secured to theinner side of the rear door 4 at the said slot [4, said plate forming a resilient inclined inner wall for vthesaid slot 14 and engaging the inner side wall l5 of the door 4 and, when so positioned, its edge l8 engages the inner sideof the bolt In (Fig. 2) and therebyprevents .the opening of the door 4.

However, if the front door is closed while the rear door 4 is open, the said rear door 4 may be closed because, as shown in Fig. 3, the rear end N5 of the bolt l0 engages the inclined side of the resilient closure plate I! as the door 4 closes, thus forcing th closure plate ll away from the wall [5 and permitting the bolt ID to completely pass the plate ll which, at once, returns to its normal position and locks the said door 4, as above.

To unlock the rear door 4, all that is necessary to do is to open the front door 2, thus releasing the bolt l0, which is impelled forward by the spring ll '(Fig. 1). Y I prefer to locate my improved rear-door latch near the lower end of the door-post 6, as shown 40 in Fig. 5, because in this position the protruding The door-post 6 is provided withalatch bolt V I0 mounted in suitable holes therein and extending out therefrom. A spring H is mounted end iii of the bolt I0 is shielded from catching on clothing or otherwise obstructing the frontdoor opening, by the front seat structure which normally extends in front of the said post 6; it may, however, be located at any desired or. convenient part of the door-post 6.

Referring now to themodified form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 4, it will be observed that I have positioned the fastening much nearer to the inner wall of the car than in the abovedescribed form. The purpose of this arrangement is to effect the movement of the locking means during the last few degrees of movement of the rear door.

on said bolt l0 and. engages a. stop pin l2 in The front door I9 is provided with a slot 20 which, in this case does not need to be very' long, and with a dent 21l. The doorpost 22 is provided with a spring actuated bolt 22 similar to the above described latch bolt It; The front edge 24 of the rear door 25 is'hlnged at 26 ,to the doorpost 22, and is provided with arecess 21 in line with the end of the spring bolt 23. A latch bolt 25 is mounted in the said recess 21 and is provided with a head 25 therein, adapted to be engaged by the end of the bolt 23. A spring 30 engages the head 29 to impel the bolt 28 towards the front. The latch bolt 2! extends entirely across the width of the door 25 and extends through a hole in its rear edge 3|. A slot 52 is made in the outer edge of the rear door-post 33,

topermit the rear end 24 of the latch bolt 28 to pass as the door 25 is opened or closed. A flat spring 35 is secured in inclined position to the outer side wall of the door-post 22 and is normally adapted to lie against the front wall thereof.

A stop pin 35 in the latch bolt 28 prevents the end 34 thereof from disengagement with the rear edge 3| of the rear door 25.

Thus it will be seen that when the rear door 25 is closed it cannot be: opened as long as the front door It is closed. But, as soon as the front door I is opened,the bolt 23 is impelled forward, thereby removing the pressure on the head-29 and permitting the latch bolt 28 to move forward under the action of the spring 50, thereby removing the end 34 of the bolt 25 out of engagement with the edge of the'flat spring- 35 and permitting the rear, door 25 to be opened.

If, however, the front door I! is closed and the with the end of said closure plate;

engages the flat spring as the door closes, and when. it is closed the spring 35 returns to its locklng position against the side of the latch bolt 28.

It is to be understood that the width of the slots 1, I4, 20 and 32 may be made only wide enough to permit the bolt ends to freely pass, but that the flat springs, or closures, I1 and 35 are slightly wider than the slots so as to engage the inner surface of the walls in which the slots are made.

Having described my invention, what .I claim is:

An automatic rear-door latch for automobiles having two doors, side by side, each door closing in association with a door-post, wherein the front door is provided with a depressed surface, inclined outward from its inner edge adjacent the door post, and wherein the' rear door is provided with a cut-away portion of its edge adjacent the door-post; comprising a flat, resilient, closure plate in saidcut-away portion and having its exposed surface inclined outward from the inner edge of said rear door and pressing against the inner surface of the end wall of said rear door adjacent said cut-away portion, said closure plate being secured to the inner surface of said rear door; and a forward-impelled latch-bolt mounted in the door-post, the front portion thereof extending into said depressed surface of the front door and adapted to be forced rearward thereby upon-closing said front door, and the rear portion thereof extending, when thus forced rearward, into the cut-out portion of the rear door and engaging said-closure plate to force it rearward as the rear door is being closed, and to engage the outer end of said closure plate when the rear door is closed, whereby the rear door is held in closed position untilthe front door is opened to release the latch-bolt from engagement GEO. E. DAVELAAR. 

